METPO: The Gate
by randomidiot1816
Summary: In an alternate Metro, the year 2037 has begun and Moscow's survivors are thriving. but thanks to a magic marble gate/portal, a new world lies in front of them... (Fantasy/action/horror fic. M for battles and some pretty livid gore descriptions.)
1. Metro Timeline

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[INITIALIZING TIMELINE…]

**Timeline Fragment: 2033-2037 (Author's Note: we are not going to follow the Exodus timeline and some other things will be altered.)**

**2033 – 20 years after The Great War of 2013, the events of metro carry out:**

**The events of the Metro 2033 Novel, and Metro 2033 Videogame take place over the course of 8 days.**

**Veteran Stalker, Ranger, Hunter travels to VDNKh, Exhibition station to aid against a new mutant threat, the Dark Ones. **

**Artyom is entrusted by Hunter to travel to Polis to get help from the Stalkers, Rangers there. **

**Artyom meets with ex-bandit and Metro guide, Bourbon. After traveling together for a short time, Bourbon is killed. **

**Artyom first encounters Khan, who shows him the mystical side to the metro. **

**Cursed Station is saved by Artyom and Khan. **

**Artyom is almost arrested by the Reds at Armory Station, he is saved by Andrew the Blacksmith. **

**Nazi's Attack Kitai Gorod station, also known as China-Town. **

**Artyom is captured by Nazis. He is saved, by Revolutionaries, Rangers Ulman and Pavel. **

**Accompanying Artyom to Black Station, Pavel dies at the Depot. **

**The Hole Station Massacre takes place. Artyom manages to save a child, Sasha. **

**Artyom finally arrives at Polis, though the Brahmin there refuse to help Artyom. This is unless Artyom helps them find 'The Future'. Veteran Stalkers Melnik and Ten, Brahmin Daniel and Artyom travel to the former Lenin Library in search of the legendary book known as 'The Future'. In the process, Daniel dies and the the Future is not found. **

**Elite Stalker, Ranger Colonel, Melnik, Miller conceives that the Dark Ones can be stopped by a missile strike to the Gardens. For which they will need to travel to D6 which can only be found if Documents from the Library can be retrieved. **

**The D6 documents are found in the great library. **

**Kievskaya resident Oleg is abducted by the Cult of the Great Worm. **

**Artyom is abducted by the Cult of the Great Worm, and is saved by Stalkers led by Melnik - who has returned from D6. **

**Kievskaya resident and rocket expert Tretyak dies. **

**The journey to D6 begins. Many Rangers fall in battle. **

**Oleg, among others, dies from the Kremlin Creature. **

**The legendary D6 is found, and the Biomass at the bottom of it is defeated. **

**A group of Stalkers including Miller and Artyom travel to Ostankino Tower to attack the Dark Ones. **

**Metro 2033 Concludes with the destruction of the Dark Ones and with Artyom stricken with guilt, questioning whether he did the right thing.**

**At the same time, contact is lost with the stations of Polshad Ilychia and Rimskaya along with the rest of the line.**

**Late 2033- a new faction called 'The Scientists' is created from the O-13 and O-21 vaults in the quarantined Polshchad Ilychia and Rimskaya stations and the isolated Sevastopolskaya, Khavovskaya and Varhavskaya stations respectiveley, led by a man named Arseniy Skadov. With their pre-war equipment and knowledge, they quickly prosper and expand. Furthermore, by New Year's Eve, they create a prototype for a vaccine to cure to the quarantine, but do not reveal it until after the events of metro 2034. (AN: This is based on the play store game 'metro 2033 wars'. Seriously, check it out, that shit is RAD.)**

**2034 – The Scientists clear the yellow line and set up a capital, Aviamotorya. They also begin a project to connect the isolated southern stations with the rest of the metro.**

**Around May of 2034 – the events of Metro 2034 take place:**

**The events of ****Metro 2034**** take place.**

**Ex-Stalker Hunter stations himself at Sevastopolskaya Station, under the alias of the Brigadier **

**According to the Gospel according to Artyom, Artyom returns to the Botanical Gardens to discover a surviving Dark One. **

**Artyom is promoted to the position of Ranger. **

**The Rangers of the Order finish getting settled in D6. **

**The events of Metro Last Light take place sometime after the 10th of May:**

**Note: The events of the Faction Pack DLC for Metro Last Light take place sometime before or during Metro Last Light.**

**A Red Army spy, Lesnitsky, abandons D6 with a covert sample of The Virus. **

**A Dark One is found in the ruins of the Botanical Gardens by Khan, Artyom and a Ranger by name of Anna are sent to assassinate it **

**Artyom and Anna fail to kill the Dark One. It is captured by Stalkers of the Fourth Reich, along with Artyom. In Reich custody Artyom comes across a Red soldier, Major Pavel Morozov. **

**Pavel guides Artyom through the metro, with promise to take him back to the Rangers. Pavel betrays Artyom to the Red Line at Theatre Station. **

**Escaping Red Line custody by help of Leonid, Artyom uncovers plans by Red Army General Korbut and puppet leader of the Red Line Moskvin, to use a super weapon to conquer the metro. **

**Sparta Base is destroyed by ex-Ranger Lesnitsky. In the process, Anna is taken hostage. **

**Oktyabrskaya is infected with the Virus as a test scenario. Roughly one day later, the Red Army, satisfied with the result, storms the station and burns it to the ground. **

**Anna is saved by Artyom, at the cost of them both being infected with the Virus. In quarantine the two become intimate. **

**Artyom tracks down and saves the baby Dark One from a hijacked Hanza train, remembering his pact he once made to them. Together they cross the surface, and uncover plans to use the Virus after the upcoming Polis Peace Conference. The two also encounter Lesnitsky and Pavel again - and Artyom is made with the decision to spare or kill each of them. **

**With Khan and Artyom's assistance, the baby Dark One discovers more Dark Ones sleeping in the vaults of D6. **

**Artyom arrives at the peace conference with the baby Dark One, and together they make Moskvin uncover Korbut's plans to invade D6. **

**It is about this time that Heavy Squad takes place. Reich successfully defends the front line from the Red Army. **

**The Battle of D6 takes place. Despite valiant effort the Rangers are defeated by the sheer number of Red Line soldiers, and their unrivaled equipment. **

**The baby Dark One stops Artyom moments before he activates the self-destruct system, stating that he has returned to help. The second coming of the Dark Ones begins with their defeating the Red Army and saving the metro. **

**In a twist of fate, the Dark Ones decide to stay in the metro with the Scientists. They stumble upon a highly radioactive area, even for them, and mutate, allowing them to interact successfully with humans almost every time, with exceptions being isolated people.**

**July of 2034: The scientists officially join the main factions and release the cure to the Plague and Virus alike.**

**2034-2035: Aviamotorya, Rimskaya and Polshchad Ilychia become trading hubs and new bases for Stalkers due to the area of the city being full of scrap, as there were little people still living in the stations before. Rimskaya becomes an interstation training ground and where most of the scientist's professional troops are created. Polshchad becomes a small market and research station and Aviamotorya becomes a jack-of-all-trades. The process to connect the southern isolated stations is successful and is quickly settled.**

**Late 2035: The Reds are defeated by both Reich, Polis and many small rebellions. Immediately afterwards, the Fourth Reich declares war on Polis and is crushed after one year of fighting.**

**Late 2036: in a surprising turn of events, the Scientists and Polis unite under the banner of Polis, now with an atom in its flag like the scientist had. Quickly after most of the metro joins the new 'Metro Council'.**

**Hunter returns to the Order, now a changed and more peaceful man. A reunion with Artyom ensues and they become closely knit with a second stepfather and son relationship.**

**The remnants of the Russian Federation make peace with the remnants of NATO, but keep the existence of survivors in Moscow a secret, alongside St. Petersburg and other big or isolated cities due to their, well, isolation.**

**The Murmansk Republic declares independence.**

**Finland reclaims its pre-Winter War lands with the exception of a 200 km zone outside of St. Petersburg.**

**In this GATE universe, the battle of Ginza takes place the 31****st**** of December 2016. The start of 2017 is celebrated by the entrance to the Special Region and The Battle of Alnus Hill.**

**In the Special Region, Emroy and the Empire decide to open another gate.**

**2037:The day of New Year's is celebrated across the metro, but is cut short by a mysterious marble gate appearing in the complex where the Dark Ones once resided. And thus, the Metro enters the table…**

NEXT CHAPTER: CHAPTER 1: PROLOUGE


	2. Chapter 1: New Year War

**AN: And welcome back to the first real chapter of the METPO X GATE crossover! The feedback I've had is amazing, even more so seeing how my writing is way worse than Kazmil118's. so aside from cestfaye30, I haven't gotten any comments but that is still more than I expected from everyone. So, I want to clear a few things up.**

**I WILL:**

**. Have an actual semi-plot this time.**

**. Use russian versions of the names (E.g: Instead of Miller, I will use Melnik)**

**. Accept proofreaders, suggestions for the story and OCs! (latter one will be used at a later date)**

**IN THIS UNIVERSE:**

**Anna is sterile.**

**Because of this, Anna stays and fights alongside Artyom and is killed instead of Ulhman.**

**Miller survives with his legs intact and loses an arm instead.**

**Hansa, the VDNKh, The Arbat Confederation, The Baumansky Alliance and many others still exist, and are friendly with each other.**

**While in that super radioactive hotspot of the metro, the Dark Ones mutated a peculiar ability; They can create a sanctuary for good people, like Anna, Miller and ultimateley Artyom, and let them live there or roam with their living loved ones. This means Anna is now a spoopy ghost! They also can now breath normal air, but get tired more often.**

**Both Artyom and Miller/Melnik are over Anna and haved moved on, same goes for Anna's love for Artyom.**

**Pavel Morozov has joined the Polis army!**

**THINGS TO COME:**

**. Actual distrust between the JDSF and the METPO!**

**. Planes!**

**. Cultists!**

**. Dark Bois!**

**. and much more!**

**For the OC thing, go to the end of the chapter.**

**And with that, here we go!**

_Midnight Celebration_

_Today is New Year's Eve. I still cannot believe I have come this far. From Exhibition, to D6, to The Tower, The Nazis, Red Line, D6 again, Pavel, and much, much more. Anyways, we are having a small party in the headquarters, even Misha, the little dark one, is going to attend. Right now it is around eleven thirty. However, something tells me it is going to go wrong…_

Just then, a voice came out. "Writing your novel, Artyom?" Artyom looked up at the spartan comedian. "Nyet, Ulhman. By the way, how are the preparations going?" He asked. "Pretty good, Melnik is going to give a speech. By the way, it's military-style, so we have to take our shit. Get your stuff at the armory." Said Ulhman before walking away. Artyom stood up and glanced at his room. It was a big one for the metro standard, with a bed, a desk, a few boards made into a bookshelf and a locker to put his armor and revolver in it all squished toghether. He sighed, donned his uniform and revolver and began to walk to the armory.

"Hey, look who it is! Artyom, my favourite ranger! So, I'm guessing you are going to get your gear?" Artyom nodded. "Yes, I would like to." "Okay then. So first, we got your Sparta helmet with the flashlight, NVG, radio and gas mask in it. Oh, and here are some extra filters. Then we have your charger. Next we have your Preved rifle, modified with the muzzle supressor, scope and extra-long magazine. Next, a supressor for your revolver and your Saiga shotgun with the extended barrel and grips. Next you Hellsbreath, modified with a laser aim. And now, for the big thing. We found a new weapon to replace the Bastard with! Apparently it is called a PPSH-41, but I like to call it "Anhialator". It's from the Soviet's days too. Anyways, it uses drum mags of bullets, but it eats them faster than my wife, so be conservative with it. Finally, your standard-issue Survivor bag, with toolkit and all. Remember, as long as you find parts and things to use, you have what is essentially an Armory-grade workbench with stuff to modify your gun with. Oh, and don't forget your ammo!" Artyom had been litsening along as he equipped everything, with a short "thank you" in the rush to get to the speech in time.

**10 minutes later…**

All 400 Rangers stood in front of Melnik, with Artyom, Hunter, Misha (The little dark one) Ulhman and the other veterans of D6 in the front. The weeks after the battle, a huge influx of conscript rangers went to reinforce the few left and saved them from catastrophe. Melnik broke the silence. "My fellow rangers, today is the day that marks a new year in this metro. Another year in this hellhole. However, in the dark there is always a light ready to be lit. And we are the ones who lit this candle and the ones who will find a way out of this hellhole. And we will survive, for not only Russia, but for all of mankind. So let this be, not a celebration in Polis, but across all the Metro, for one day, we will prosper up there once more! FOR SPARTA! FOR POLIS! FOR HUMANITY!" a loud cheer came from the audience, and the celebration was on.

However, only minutes after, a _Zashchitnik_ burst through the door to the base. "Commander Melnik, the west entrance is under attack!" everyone paused the celebrating. "What?!" The conscript responded "Really! We're having to retreat!" Everyone inmediateley ran for the doors to get to the train leading to the west entrance, even Misha, being carried by Artyom. As they got into the train, a deathly silence was in it. Suddenly, radio chatter came to life in Melnik's helmet. "This is Major Pavel Morozov, reinforcing the gate. We can't hold them, so please may you be so kind to bring your asses here?" Before Melnik answered, artyom responded instead. "Yep, Pavel, we're getting there right now. We can hear you guys fighting in fact." "Okay, I under- HOLY DER'MO, WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING?! GUYS, GET HERE NOW!" then the radio stopped. The doors opened, and the troops inside quickly went to aid the conscripts in their fight.

Artyom rushed to the frontline with Misha and Ulhman to find Pavel being carried on a , it was actually a piece of wood with some scrapped cloth but was better than nothing. But Artyom didn't care at that point. For this was a different part of Artyom, born through the harsh life in the metro and his travels. Not the reserved and friendly one but the one who fought so brutally they told horror stories of him in the stations that once formed the Red Line to this day. This wasn't him. This was, as he was once nicknamed, The Demon of Polis.

He charged straight through, pure adrenaline boosting him farther and farther, until he was right in front of the enemy. For some reason, they used iron swords and shields, but at that moment His mind's only thought was for blood. He grabbed a man by the shield and shot him with his whotgun, creating a bloody mess. Then another. One tried to rush him with a dagger only to be met with a trench knife lodged in his skull. To top off the cake with a sweet cherry, the Russian survivors shouted a famous and bloodcurdling war cry, unfazed by being drenched in blood. One that goes a little something like this.  
**"URRA!"**  
And then they counterattacked, quickly making it a closed-space melee of hundreds of fighters against whatever the enemy was. Daggers slashed, men screamed and cries for help filled the air, mixing with the stench of blood and gunpowder. And slowly, inch by inch, the enemy was pushed back. But they broke when they saw the head of their geeral being raised on a stick, almost irrecognizable by the stab wounds. At this, the strange army broke in a rout, a few surendering but most running away. In the end, the metro dwellers won, but not with casualties. Blood and human matter filled the tunnel, the bodies piled into bonefires or sticked into some abandoned area deep down to feed the Nosalises.

Artyom sat down to rest in a chair. He was exhausted from that, although he was recovering well from his impressive stamina. Before passing out, something told him that this was just the beginning of a brand new adventure...

**AN: And cut! This was the first, albeit short, chapter to this fic. Next one should come out next week.**

**Anyways, going to the oc's!**

**I will be accepting OC's until chapter 5, which should be around the time the METPO reaches Italica.**

**Name:**

**Gender:**

**Appereance:**

**Age:**

**Affiliation (can be Empire, Polis, JDSF or none):**

**Traits (3 good and 2 bad, don't make them op [if they have a really good thing make them have a big weakness]):**

**Personality:**

**Bio/Backstory:**

**Major or minor character?:**

**And that's all! See you next time.**


	3. Chapter 2: Entrance

**Hello people! Random here and welcome back to another bucket load of crap!**

**Firstly, Thank you to everyone for the comments! if you want to see my responses and some more casual shit, I will put them at the end of the chapter.**

**Secondly, I've decided to use two of the submitted characters to be a part of our protag squad. only two more positions are available! So if you want it, you have two chapters until the one in June. (There are also 5 spots left for Major Characters and one-time appearance and secondary characters are still fully vacant with 10 slots.)**

**Third, I have moved over to google docs due to replacing my windows and hard drive and thus moved from Word to Google Docs. Just PM me if any problems are to arise because of this.**  
**And lastly, this story has an official schedule: will be updated at least once a month with 2K to 5K words in average chapters (I attend both normal school and online school, not to mention at least one test a month, so I can only work on this during weekend and/or vacations.)**  
**Anyways, there are no other things to say, so let us get started, shall we?**

_Chapter 2: _

_Entrance _

_I still cannot believe it. Last night we were attacked by some men in metal armor. Ulman and Melnik told me they wore iron and steel and looked like some very old people (much older than the soviets!) called 'Romans'. It is suspicious for them to have had so many men. Hell, someone said if we left the bodies at Polyanka in freezers the Mutants could have an infinite source of food to feast on. Said person was put in cleaning duty by a pissed Melnik afterwards. Right now it's almost time to go to briefing. Since the scientists have been giving out enough food for both Polis and their line to be sufficiently well-fed, Melnik trained us enough to carry three main weapons and a small one too. kind of overpowered, but hey, the guys have every gun possible in the armory so if someone had the audacity then they could easily obliterate everyone with three Kalashes and a Loife. Or better yet, two Pepperboxes! Anyways, briefing is starting, so I must get going..._

***Linebreak brought to you by Chibi Artyom and Chibi Misha having an epic psychic battle***

Lt. Ranger Artyom 'The Demon' Sukhoi stood in the briefing room alongside a handful of other men and women, ranging from Sargeants to Commanders. In the middle of the room stood our favourite father of 400+ post-apocalyptic soldiers with the jokes of quality similar to a rock's, a love for mushroom vodka and in the case of Artyom, the superweapon of superweapons; puppy eyes. (Oh yeah, also hardbass, an armored train, armored cars and a pair of T-60s, but I digress.) Among these brave Metro dwellers were some of the most distinguished ones in the Order: (AN: if you want to skip the character's bios feel free to do so.):

Atomic Ranger Jaune D'Ariette, AKA: 'The Knight': A 19 year-old French-American orphan from unknown origin with a sword made from Persian damascus steel and an old military shield, Jaune dives into battle headfirst and is a good surgeon, but is careless and always goes solo.

1st. Armored Convoy Commander 'Hans' Jaeger, or The Juggernaut: A 25-year old former Heavy Squad deserter turned Ranger, Jaeger's title is a well-earned one. Even when under fire and grazed by the many wounds that never hurt him seriously, this lucky heavy weapons man can crack the least serious of jokes and act casually. He is a kind and soft person to civilians and friends, but has a short fuse and is heartless in battle. He has never been able to find love, but that may change at any time.

and finally, Third Recon Squad Leader Jacob 'Cook' Quinata: The one of the best chefs in the Metro, Jacob, the son of an American tourist, ran a family cafe and trade in Polis. After the missiles were launched from The Tower, Jacob signed up for the heavy weapons programme of the rangers. Preferring to use the average Metro classics: An extended shambler with stock, a Kalash and a revolver, or the Gatling and Azbats, Jacob only likes the weapons in either extreme of the scale. After his father's death, Jacob was ascended to Sergeant thanks to saving a caravan of traders and refugees coming to Polis. However, he has an addiction to liquor which causes him to forget where things are and get reckless.

**(AN: the bios are over, you may continue as normal.)**

Melnik waited for the room to quiet and then began briefing. "Welcome men. As you can see, you have all been selected to take part in the initial assault. Now, I must tell you that this battle will be much harder than the others. the reason we won so easily was due to the size and equipment that these roman wannabes wore, horrible for the Metro."

"Artyom will head over to the other side of the gate. Artyom, if you find a camp, take out the guards or, if not possible, plant bombs in any fortifications that you can reach. If you can find anything detailing information of this world, battle plans or others, grab it. Rescue any prisoners you can and be careful, I'm not in the mood of getting berated by Hunter. We will march in tomorrow, take out any enemies, and fortify it into a command post. Now get going, I'll debrief the rest of you lot."

Artyom nodded and headed for the elevator leading to the tunnel where the gate was at. He grimaced a bit remembering how he became The Demon again. While the elevator rose to the highest level of D6, he reminisced and pondered. How long had it been from the start of this? One, two years? All of these missions gave him a headache. Go here, kill the Nazis at the outpost there, get another map from the Library, go explore these tunnels… Asides from having found that blonde Jaune in one of the tunnels near Armory a week after The Tower, he hadn't had many interesting experiences. He felt like he was being ordered around by Piston Gravy, or someone along those lines, that Ulman told him existed from a franchise based on this very situation - the Nuclear Holocaust. However, there was no time to think during missions and the only times he got to rest was while on leave or the clinic after getting blood transplants or surgery to remove yet another lucky graze from an artery, so he almost never had time to really think or write in his journal.

Artyom took a breath and then walked out of the now still elevator. The only time he was seriously wounded was in a fight against a Librarian and a Bi- a Demon. Hell, by that event alone he was very damn near to his other famed title 'The Invincible Russian'. He had survived the frontline with a silenced revolver and throwing knife in hand, the only backup being a half-broken gas mask, a pipe bomb and Kalash with barely any ammo for the weapons for crying out loud! (at least he got much better weapons and a lot of ammo out of that battle.) Shaking his thoughts away, he checked he hadn't forgotten anything before stepping into the entrance to the guard post surrounding the phenomenon that had appeared a day before. Thankfully it wasn't far away; the post was at the 100th meter from the hidden maintenance room leading to the elevator, meaning it could be reinforced quickly and transfering things was much easier this way.

After a quick thanks directed to the Weaponsmith stationed there, Artyom took out the Saiga, Voltgun, PPSH and trusty silenced revolver, placed them in their respective holsters sans the PPSH, and headed into the portal.

At first glance, the portal looked like any other tunnel. Except with his ability to see in the dark granted by living your whole life in the dark depths of the Moscow Metro System, he could see a faint light that looked exactly like the one he saw back in 2034. As he got closer to the light on the other end, he could recognize the soft glow of the moonlight he saw when travelling the swamp to reach the Church outpost. Artyom put on his gas mask and exited the tunnel…

"Hey, Brutus! there is something coming from the portal!" Shouted a man. He was wearing a strange outfit in Artyom's opinion; a metal robe welded with leather, a red tunic, a helmet with a strange brush ('maybe they use it as brooms?') and some armor for kneecaps and plimsolls. Artyom found it even weirder to see a blade of rough steel and a decorated but rusted iron shield; did these people not use guns? Sure, Jaune was the exception but that was because the kid was clearly trained for it professionally, had an uncanny ability to heal quickly and used very high quality equipment, so much so that the way to make the blade had been lost even before the War of 2013!.

The other man went to check the portal going deeper and right out of the sight of his comarade. immediately Artyom pounced, using his revolver to shoot the man in the head. blood splattered across the floor and Artyom slowly lowered him to the ground to not make any sounds that came with the clang of iron falling.

All of a sudden, a searing pain that only came with a psychological attack came. Some time ago it would have made Artyom consider putting a bullet in his brain right then and there, but he had a mission and mental resistance and he was damn sure that he would let it finish if his suspicions were correct. "You will understand… but new barriers… Learn more…" that alone confirmed the chance of the dark ones being behind all of this. He felt a numb pain and a bit of pleasure somehow (he had never really understood the whole 'psychic absorption' thing) but one thing was changed: he remembered the words the man said and immediately to translated it into Russian in his brain. The dark ones were the most powerful beings ever, or in Ulman's words 'Dark Boys Overpowered, please nerf'. Again, Ulman and his weird phrases.

Artyom found himself smirking as this opened many outcomes. Perhaps they would be able to get a prison and finally find out on this debacle. After a moment to collect himself, he headed for the seemingly undermanned camp, ready to take a vendetta with these invaders.

***Timeskip brought to you by Chibi Artyom being ordered around by Chibi Melnik***

It was done. Artyom took out all the men in the perimeter. He only had to go to a wooden building which he could roughly see a sign hanging from it, saying "Commander's Quarters" and two tents of around the same look, although the second one had grime and blood around it.  
Deciding to enter the quarters, he slowly crept around the building until he found a small pavilion leading inside. When he arrived, he found the only enemy man who hadn't met his blade or revolver. as he was about to slit the man's throat, Artyom decided to do something else. Shaking him a little until he woke up, Artyom punched the man in the head, rendering him unconscious again. looking at a way on how to restrain him, he grabbed some rope he had for emergencies, cut it in half and binded the man's limbs. Then he used other materials to add in, making it next to impossible for the roman to escape them, and if he did the sound could be heard from anywhere within the camp. carrying the man outside and grabbing everything that seemed important or valuable, Artyom decided to see the clean tent.

With Saiga and revolver at the ready, Artyom burst inside and nearly out of the other side. Hearing many feminine shrieks behind him, our protagonist turned around and saw a sight that made him want to vomit, this only repressed due to the horrors he had seen in the Metro.

The first thing Artyom noticed was a bunch of cells clamped together with human-looking shapes inside. Squinting a little, he could make out slender bodies protected by a simple greenish beige robe crying. Assuming the worst scenario of these being shadows, he aimed his Saiga while cautiously walking forward, silently reciting the verse that Khan had taught him after D6 just in case.  
With a better look, he could now clearly see seemingly starving women of all ages in the cells, rolled out in a ball or passed out. Artyom felt his blood begin to boil. Not even the Nazis would be this cruel to these women! his thought was quickly crossed out when he saw that they had different assets; bunny ears, a monkey's tail, a wolf's fang, stretched and pointy ears… 'That's strange. maybe they were born in an irradiated area? No, these look too normal-looking to be from mutation. Wait, if they could all breathe, couldn't he do so too?' Artyom sighed as he realized he had been wearing his mask for nothing. taking a deep breath, he removed his gas mask, his vision clearing but bringing along a massive wave of putrid smells that made him want to vomit.

After the initial shock, Artyom used signals to tell the woman that she should move away from the cage door, which she did hurriedly. he grabbed his revolver and pulled the trigger, causing some of the women to cover their extra ears or just jump in fear. Moments later, the clink of the padlock hitting the floor was heard. Artyom repeated this with the rest of the cages.

Once the women were freed and recovered from the initial shock, he signaled them to follow him. Complying, the women silently moved forward with an occasional whimper from the younger ones or more scared ones. Grabbing the still unconscious officer and putting him like a sack on his shoulder, Artyom started walking again, heading for the marble structure he had seen. with a nudge he transmitted a message for them to keep walking, which the women reluctantly did, still afraid of him.  
Stepping back into his home, Artyom couldn't help but smile. He heard two drops of water echo in the dark tunnel, but he did not care. Justice was served and people saved, and that was enough for him. He'd interrogate the officer tomorrow - for now, he wanted to rest after that. So he ate a quick dinner in the mess hall and went to sleep.

***CHAPTER END***

**So, I finally did this chapter! I've probably bored you enough, so let's go over the reviews and call it a day, shall we?**

**KlockB: Well, this can certainly get interesting. BTW, in the Metro 2033 game we did see tanks in D6. Will they be making an appearance in this fic? Like they managed to get one or two operational by salvaging anything they could get their hands on from the other materials from the rest of the Metro. Otherwise keep this up!**  
**Thanks for the compliment! Yes, as you can see in the story, they have a pair of T-60s and armored cars. They won't make too many appearances though. i mean, limited ammo, too much fuel to be effective… Plus, this is a bunch of russians in a metro where half the stations are abandoned or destroyed with no contact to the outside world and almost no way to extract fuel, so it wouldn't exactly be very smart of them.**

**Kingbot (Review A): You have my interest..but I do hope this isn't just another Gate with the same story only with the JSDF and (inset other army) joining forces to further curbstomp the empire. In my honest opinion there are way too many of those and while I do like action, I don't like it in the form of one sided battles without any tension or suspense.**  
**Yeah, that's an actually valid concern. Too many of those in the crossovers. (Not in the metro fandom though, Kazmil118 is one hell of a balanced storywriter) I want to write a story with not so much suspense as action but still tense. In some fanfics there is mistrust between our newly added army and the JDSF because of the JDSF being jerks via claiming lands from them, denying important things, etc. The obvious exception is crack fics or ones where the new army is clearly designed to be very OP.**  
**Kingbot (Review B)**  
**Not a bad chapter, that being said I did notice a grammar error or two, the most noticeable one being that you misspelled general as "geeral" and ultimately as "ultimateley." Also, I don't think Anna being sterile as she is, well dead. In all, not a bad chapter it just needs a little bit of cleaning.**  
**Thanks for the constructive criticism. The 'Anna is sterile' bit is to justify Anna dying in D6 instead of Ulman. Plus, it makes a tad bit of sense in the situation they are in.**  
**As for the spelling errors, expect them a lot. English is not my main language and I also tend to overlook things, so there are a few errors here and there, such as uncapitalized 'i's and misspelled words. Expect them in future chapters.**

**So, that's all. Bye.**

**WORD COUNT: 2240-2260 (Excluding beginning and end comments from the author)**

**NEXT CHAPTER: _Expedition_**

**DATE OF NEXT CHAPTER: 1st-7th of June**

**(6/06/19) - Re-edited and fixed major errors in the chapter.  
**


	4. Chapter 3: Expedition

**Bloody hell, I was too optimistic. It took me well over an extra month for the special I tried to do (FUCK YOU, SCHOOL!) Hope Y'all enjoy.**  
**I'm extending the inserts until September, so if you want to that's still available.**  
**We're halfway through the year and the holy 2-week vacation period started for me, meaning more writing time for me until the 16th. Good luck out in the real world.**

_Chapter 3: Expedition._  
_After the stab-fest a few hours ago, I managed to get a good six hours of sleep. The officer, as it turns out, had information in a new attack force that would arrive a week from now. Blondie, or as he is named, Jaune, seems to know this language, saying that 'it was an old family language'. Lucky me. He's taking care of the refugees, but we are about to head out for the desolated camp to set up position. They're bringing stationary MGs and those funny-looking hollow cylinders with legs, called 'mortars'. To summarize, they somehow launch some giant weird-looking shotgun shells that fall back to the ground and explode into tiny pieces, killing everyone inside radius. Three or four years ago, I'd think these were the ultimate weapon, but seeing the effects of nuclear bombs and bioweapons firsthand (and launching the former myself), this would be comparing the size of a rat to The Tower. Well, at least the air will be nice. Fresh, non-toxic air, normal animals and edible plants are paradise to me, and much better than rat stew so I'm happy._

Artyom woke up with a pain, nightmare and head start on his bunkmates. Looking around for his uniform. Putting it on, he headed off for his morning ritual inside a special place, one only he and Khan knew. Taking the elevator down and to an abandoned turbine, he entered a maintenance room with candles and pictures everywhere, their own little mourning grave. although abandoned, the concrete of D6 and reinforced steel all around made it impossible to anything less than tons of explosives to penetrate even the weakest parts of the steel and concrete. sitting down, Artyom closed his eyes and entered into a trance, the only way to communicate with that someone who had been very dear to him.

_"Hello Artyom. How are you doing?" she said. "It is nice to hear you after a while. It's been some time."_  
_"Hello, Anna. I am rather well. Do you wish to tell me something after such a rude awakening?"_  
_"Yes. For some reason, my binds to the compound have been weakened. So, my Rabbit, do you happen to know why?"_  
_"Actually, I think I might. You see, a marble structure appeared…"_  
Artyom told her everything. The gate, the attack, the expedition to the other side and the prisoners. The languages, the technology and the amour the strange men wore. Anna 'nodded' along, although confused.  
_"Well, that's quite strange, but I can't answer that. Anyways, it's about time you head out for breakfast, so I'll see you next time." _And with that, she severed the trance and snapped Artyom back to the real world.

Exiting out of the trance, Artyom walked back to the elevator. He and Anna were simple. They asked the events in their places, shared news, talked stupid things and finished by keeping it short. Although he had never liked this, he knew this was fine anyways. Although he had done that weird naked thing that Anna told him was called 'sex', which was similar to that stealing naked woman in Riga and the other ones in Venice, it had been a decision in the moment, one fueled by half a decade of in her case constrained and in his unknown wants and the possibility of their deaths.

With the sounds of the elevator's whirring and humming in the background, Artyom kept thinking. The Tower had been the moment where it changed. His life had, the events in it had and his role in the metro certainly had.  
He went from a simple mushroom farming boy to a respected and veteran Ranger in the span of one or two years, an incredible feat for anyone. Although at first he was insulted and looked down upon as some lowlife who got lucky, he had gained respect and legacy through actions and words, with an appearance and mind to back it up.  
He was and is fit but wiry, from both the limited of meals in the Metro and his constant running and exercise. He was calm and patient, respectful of elders, curious and ingenious, seeking all the education that he could find and well trained from the hardest of experiences, including being The First to communicate with The Dark Ones, the initial eight-day journey with little sleep, breaking a camp's worth of prisoners out and being a symbol of hope for everyone through heroic actions.

But under all of this was a simple young man who had been caught up in greater events. What would have happened if he died alongside the way to Polis or stayed at VDNKh? What would have happened if the Dark Ones hadn't saved him? What would have happened if he retired from the Order after D6?  
These were questions he would probably never find an answer for, but nevertheless he liked to ponder, as it gave him freedom. He had free will and a bright mind, a free and developed conscience, and he liked to think of scenarios, strategies or simple dreams of a calm life in the surface with it, something that might be achieved in the future with these new lands.

The elevator creaked and whined a little as it stopped and Artyom walked out back into the base, using the early freetime to do various things.

Heading to the Armory, Artyom decided to get a change of weapons. with a swoosh, the doors opened to a mild chaos in the armory while Vladimir, the weapons man from before, jogged to the front to meet Artyom.  
"Privyet, Artyom. What brings you here today?" asked Vladimir. "Not much, just some simple changes to my weapons and maintenance. By the way, why is there so much chaos over there?" Artyom asked. Vladimir sighed. "Melnik wants us to establish another armory in the base you cleared out, so we are taking all the surplus we have to establish it after the clear is given. Hell, they're taking five Dushka machine guns and two mortars!" Vladimir exclaimed, his voice mixed with excitement and surprise. Artyom, a bit rushed, decided to end the conversation politely. "Da, it would seem they want to make a D7. Anyways, I'm simply going to change weapons and leave. See you around." Vladimir waved at Artyom and went back to assisting the other armory workers.

Artyom decided to be light today. He chose a VSV, a dot sight and laser attached to it (with, of course, its integrated silencer), the Shambler with a fully upgraded stock and extended barrel and his revolver, silencer, dot sight and laser sight equipped as well. Placing the other weapons back in the rack, Artyom decided to simply walk and chat with the other Rangers for the rest of his time.

Chatting with the few rangers that had free time, Artyom took the time to relax, a small break from his routine. He simply socialised over various things, enjoying the simple aspect of having time to do anything one pleases. Something that almost no-one had these days, and especially not in the frontier stations where you either repelled mutants, worked in the farms or crafted ammunition all day long. He relished in the freedom he had until the intercom asked for '05-1', his group, to get to the briefing room.  
With a wave to the ranger he was talking to, Artyom jogged up to the elevators and silently waited for it to go up, leaving his thoughts behind. Now was the time for focus, not thinking simple things like that.

With the groaning of slightly rusted metal, the elevator made its way up the base. Making a small 'Ding!' at its destination, the doors opened to the command room and Artyom walked up to find Melnik, Khan, Jaune and Ulman waiting for him in a table. He checked his watch. Just in time for the briefing!

"You're here, Artyom. Good." Melnik started with a simple sentence. Artyom kept silent, simply sitting in the table that the others were at. "So, to pass over the plan once more. We will enter the camp and clear out the enemies that might be inside. after it's clear, we'll send Ulman back to Polis to give the sign, and only then we will move in. Do you understand the plan gentlemen?" All of the group nodded. "Very well. Meet me at the entrance of the structure in ten minutes. Dismissed!"

One by one, each of the Rangers left the room, until it was just Jaune and Artyom. Jaune seemed nervous, so as they walked, Artyom tried to ease his nerves. "Hey Yellow, are you okay?" he asked. "Yeah, I'm just nervous. I remember seeing alive places before, but only near the Volga and rivers in the city during last spring. Seeing it again would be beautiful, more so with fresh air." Jaune relaxed a little. Artyom could understand. even with the storms and skeletons of buildings looming overhead, he still loved seeing the blooming, albeit barely, life in the streets. It reminded him of the old photos and postcards that showed blooming fields of flowers, clean distant oceans, lush, thick jungles and distant deserts. Even though worn down, for a man who lived his whole life in cramped, grey and almost lifeless tunnels, these were masterpieces. Artyom sighed. "I know that feeling. Come on, I've cleared the base already, so let's move our asses without worry before Miller feeds us to the pigs." Jaune smirked, and they both entered the elevator.

(Timeskip brought to you by Chibi Jaune and Chibi Artyom doing a dank guitar duo)

The group of Rangers walked towards the light at the other side of the tunnel in a V formation, weapons drawn but excited. After all, clean surface air and living trees seemed impossible in Moscow as a whole. A half dozen carts like the ones in the markets of medieval times followed after them, carrying weapons, supplies and equipment such as radios, tools and tents to set up a working base.

Artyom and Melnik were at the lead, eyes darting around and laser sights on, ready to fire at anything that moves. Behind them Ulman and Jaune followed, the former checking the sides of the tunnel and the latter ready to run up front and protect the group with shield and Loife. At the back stood the rest of the team, just in front of the convoy to provide covering fire and escort the carts drawn by the Katrishya.

Artyom's breath was steady and controlled, helping him stay calm and calculative in these situations even if he was still tired and shaky from the last ordeal. After all, it's not every day you discover a new world, silently kill about two and a half dozen enemies and take a nap as if it was a normal day, then have to escort over thirty carts full of valuable equipment into potentially deadly and unfamiliar terrain in the span of less than 12 hours. Then again, being a veteran member of the Polis Rangers and having lived most of your life in a semi-isolated border station leading to an anomalous abandoned station that not even mutants will go near to helps to build stamina, willpower and perseverance.

The light finally gave way to the other side of the tunnel and everyone covered their eyes, not used to the massive amount of light in comparison to the Metro or Moscow's cold nights. The only reason they weren't all outright blinded was because the four Polis stations were and are the last stations in the whole Metro to have a fully functioning electricity grid thanks to the maintenance and restoration of pre-war systems (although restoration works were happening in the Hanse circle and inner lines).

After a minute or so, their eyes adjusted to the light and gave view to the now visible landscape. The gate stood at the top of a large hill with cliffs, a river running down the left of the exit. A forest could be seen at the right, and a faraway mountain range was also visible to the east. Everyone froze again, frozen rigid by the landscape that was a massive contrast to the Metro. Some of the youngest of the civilians hadn't even seen the surface before, with the only world they knew being the cold station of polis and it's narrow streets in the civilian's shacks. The ones that had seen it had only ever seen the ice and marshes of post-apocalyptic Moscow and only Artyom had seen ever seen blooming plants after 2013, at the edge of the river while crossing the Bridge. The first two to recover were Melnik and Artyom, who carefully walked towards the gate of the camp, the rest recovering soon after. Melnik started giving out orders, and soon the camp was scuttling with ranger and civilian alike, setting up tents and establishing telegram and radio lines.

"Artyom! Jaune! Follow me!" Melnik barked. The three moved towards the tent that Artyom hadn't checked during his reconnaissance. As they closed up, they could smell the familiar stench of dried blood and rotting corpses. by the time they were in front of it, the smell was visibly making Jaune and Miller uneasy, with Artyom not far behind. Melnik collected himself and spoke. "Okay. In the count of three, we go in there. One, two, three!" The trio entered the tent.

The moment that they entered the tent, the smell got ten times worse, making Jaune puke and Melnik stumble back a bit. Artyom just stood there, frozen in time looking forward. When the other two looked at what he saw, they felt like vomiting again.  
There were about two dozen beds with dead bodies in them. The men in them lay motionless, in varying states of terror, with missing limbs, charred torsos or dirty tools just lying in stomachs or in the sides. Although the blood was dried, it still looked like it was fresh, and to add the rotting skull to the arachnid nest, the flies were having a feast on every single body, with many in various stages of decomposition and smelling like serious horse shit.

Jaune looked the most shocked and disgusted. Even though he was a Ranger and had done missions in the previous Cultist and abandoned stations to find new bunkers or send messages to the more isolated stations, he had never seen something like this before.  
"I-I need a break." he managed to utter out, staggering outside. Artyom and Melnik followed him soon after.

Without a word, Melnik pulled out a few incendiary and pipe grenades. He broke them and let the incendiary fuel splash onto the fabric of the tent, then threw the pipe grenades inside, before finally making a fuel trail outside. he pulled out his bullet lighter and lit the trail leading inside, the tent becoming a bonfire within seconds and burning everything inside.

The three walked away, silent. "Artyom, Jaune. Go and sit down. You need a moment to recover." Melnik said. lying against one of the walls in the camp, Artyom noticed Jaune visibly shaking. He was still a kid after all, 19 years was very young for someone of his level of combat or rank. He wanted to comfort him, but he knew the kid was better off alone in this, even if he hated to do so.

Artyom himself was shook as well. It seemed that these enemies didn't care or didn't have medical tools like theirs. Hell, even the Church and Cathedral outposts both have better equipment! This was something else than some enemy faction too, not even the Reds gave that little care to wounded. But the more he thought, the more it added up. Primitive tools and medicine, lack of guns, a big-ass gate/portal between dimensions, armour like the one he saw in some old books he owned in Exhibition… This was straight out of a novel like one he had back in his teenage years. A 'medieval' group with 'magic'. He wasn't sure how that even happened, but perhaps, this was a different reality altogether? it seemed like it. Khan was correct in the divine realms of his Earth having been destroyed by nuclear annihilation, but this didn't mean other Earths had been destroyed as well. It seemed as plausible as a hungry pack of Nosalis not attacking a lone traveller on sight, but the possibility remained, and it was all he could come up with for now.

Pushing himself off the floor, Artyom decided to go and help out the others in unloading the carts, if only to distract himself from the horrors he saw in the tent. They had work to do, after all.

**AND DONE! FINALLY! Well, this took way too much time (FUCK YOU SCHOOLWORK, YOU PIECE OF SHIT!), so while I work on the next chapter I'm going to force myself to write another idea I had as a separate oneshot. Writer's block is a bitch to deal with. Now, *clap* comment *clap* review!**

**KlockB: OK this is getting better and better! You certain have my interest.**  
**P.S.: I guess that means that Regnea (my OC) won't be in this. Oh well. No biggie.**

**Thanks for the positive comment! And for the OC, I'm implementing people along the way. Trust me, they will all come up at one point.**

**Guest: I'm lovin this story. shame Anna and artyom couldn't have the kid from the last light bad ending but at least now you have a nice window to pair artyom with who ever you want with Anna's approval(Might I recommend tyulle not many fics have or use her.) Also with how the metro is all rails once they get a base set they would be able to salvage track from other dead end areas and have a railhead for better supply movement and possibly even a siding for the armored train to be artillery or a armored hospital/barracks/prison/ect.**

**Again, thanks. Unfortunately, Anna is dead, but I'm not sure whomst to pair Artyom with or to pair him at all, but that is an interesting option… The rails is actually quite plausible for trolleys, especially with the pre-war tech the scientists brought in. The armoured train though, would be hard to do, perhaps nearing the end of the story.**

**LanzCorporalAssWipe: Heh russians cant fight a war without vodka and hardbass.**  
**If they have mayonnaise they would be unstoppable .**

**True, very true. Mayonez and rush b with a side of vodka is the best breakfast.**

**Killroy122496: Well it's sad that my two oc didn't make it but well anyway love the chapter**

**Again, they'll come in later on, but they're gonna be here.**

**Well, that's all for now. Expect updates net time my brain ain't a bitch, and adios.**

**WORD COUNT: 2756 (story only), 3220ish altogether.**

**NEXT UPDATE: Whenever my brain stops being a bitch, probably early October.**


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